If “Moana 2” seems like it was released remarkably quickly for a major Hollywood animated movie, that’s because up until earlier this year, it was being developed as a TV series for Disney Plus, not a theatrical feature film.
Opening Wednesday in theaters, “Moana 2” still feels a bit like on overgrown TV series, or one of the small-scale animated sequels that Disney released direct-to-video in the 1990s and 2000s. It’s a mildly entertaining return to the world of the first movie, but it lacks the excitement and wonder that made the original “Moana” such a hit.
For “Moana” fans who’ve watched the 2016 movie over and over again, it may be enough just to see ambitious teenager Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) and vain demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) back together on the big screen.
Those fans may be disappointed, though, that songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda hasn’t returned for the sequel, and that the story is never nearly as urgent or cohesive as the epic quest of the original. “Moana 2” is pleasant and passable, and it rarely goes beyond that.
‘Moana 2’ has a muddled, episodic plot
After saving the population of her Polynesian-style home island of Motunui in the first movie, Moana is thriving. Thanks to Maui’s help, she returned the gem known as the heart of Te Fiti and restored her people’s tradition of exploring the ocean. It was a tidy resolution that concluded Moana’s coming-of-age arc and provided some basic lessons about openness and believing in yourself.
So “Moana 2” is stuck with the familiar sequel difficulty of creating new problems for the characters, and nothing that screenwriters Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller come up with carries the same weight.
Moana broke one ancient god’s curse in the first movie, and now she’s faced with another. Although she and her fellow villagers have been extensively exploring the ocean, they’ve yet to find any other inhabited islands.
It turns out that a different god, Nalo, once cursed all the peoples of the ocean to be divided, and he hid the special central island that connected them all. So Moana sets out on a new adventure, this time with a crew of supporting characters who seem designed as the ongoing cast of a TV series.
Eventually she also reunites with Maui, although it takes half the movie to bring the beloved characters together. Johnson is now an executive producer, and his ubiquitous persona has lost much of its charm in the eight years since “Moana” was released, so the brash, overconfident Maui is not as amusing as he used to be.
At least Johnson and Cravalho still have a fun dynamic, which is more than can be said for Moana’s relationship with her three underdeveloped crew members. Also along for the ride are Moana’s pet rooster and pig, plus one of the warlike coconut creatures known as Kakamora, who make a shift from antagonists to allies.
Those characters meander from one set piece to another, and the relatively short movie comes off like a handful of TV episodes strung together. The characters’ goal is never as clear as Moana’s original mission, and one apparent villain makes an abrupt turn in the middle of the movie that renders much of the preceding tension irrelevant.
The music and visuals are appealing but not spectacular
That abrupt turn comes in the form of a song, and while Miranda is no longer around as a songwriter, fellow composers Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i return, aided by the team of Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear (best known for the social media sensation “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical”).
The songs are less memorable this time around, although Cravalho’s excellent voice has only improved over time, thanks to her intervening experience on stage and in movies like the “Mean Girls” musical. She sounds fantastic, while Johnson lumbers his way through Maui’s big number, and other characters make respectable but unremarkable showings.
Although it began as a TV project, “Moana 2” still looks gorgeous, especially as the characters travel along the open sea. There’s nothing quite as majestic as the lava monster in the first movie, but directors David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller still present some impressive sights, including a giant clam with a whole world of strange beasts in its belly.
Moana and Maui are expressive and energetic, although the addition of Moana’s new little sister Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) goes a bit overboard on the cutesiness. Moana’s parents (Temuera Morrison and Nicole Scherzinger) and the spirt of her late grandmother (Rachel House) also return, but the sense of grand family and tribal tradition is a little weaker.
Disney Animation is long past its golden age — instead engaged now mostly in intellectual property management — and while “Moana 2” may not reach any deep emotions, it serves as an adequate brand extension.
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